A fresh search on Oak Island has uncovered another potentially significant clue on Lot 5, where the team is continuing to investigate a mysterious stone feature near the shoreline.

While core drilling continued in the Money Pit area, metal-detection expert Gary Drayton and Peter Fornetti joined the archaeology team nearly half a mile to the west to examine spoil piles removed from the large rounded feature during the previous season.

The goal was simple: search for artifacts that may have slipped through the archaeological screens and potentially reveal who occupied the site — and why.

The round feature has attracted particular attention since Lot 5 began producing artifacts that appear to predate the discovery of the Money Pit.

Because the site was designated a “special place” by the government of Nova Scotia in 2024, however, Gary and Peter cannot simply excavate targets themselves. Any potential find must first be approved and investigated by an accredited archaeologist.

It did not take long for Gary’s detector to sound.

The first signal appeared to be nonferrous and was located not directly in the spoil pile, but in apparently undisturbed ground nearby.

Archaeologist Fiona Steele carefully excavated the target before Gary identified it as a small piece of flattened lead shot.

Although modest in size, the find immediately caught the team’s attention.

Previous searches on Lot 5 have uncovered several gun-related artifacts, including musket balls and a ramrod guide, some of which could date back centuries.

The discovery therefore raised another possibility: that people may once have occupied the area as some form of camp or working site long before the Money Pit was officially discovered.

Encouraged by the find, Fiona allowed Gary and Peter to continue searching around the western side of the feature.

Their next target was iron.

Once uncovered, the object appeared to have an unusual shape, along with raised sections that could either have been corrosion or part of an original design.

Gary initially wondered whether it might be part of a hinge or locking mechanism.

That possibility immediately opened up a series of questions.

If the object was associated with a door, chest or lock, could it have belonged to a structure connected with the nearby rounded feature?

The object will require further study before any firm conclusion can be reached, but Gary believed it had the potential to help tell the story of activity on Lot 5.

Then came an even more intriguing signal.

Gary detected a much larger iron target buried approximately ten inches beneath the surface.

Because of its depth and substantial size, Fiona began carefully excavating the area with a trowel.

But before the metal object itself could be removed, other material began to appear.

The team first noticed a fragment of green glass that Fiona believed looked old. Pieces of coarse earthenware also emerged from the same area.

Suddenly, what had started as a metal-detection target looked like something potentially much larger.

Fiona made the decision to stop digging.

Rather than risk disturbing what could be another archaeological feature, she suggested that the area should be investigated more systematically.

“This may just be a pile of something that got thrown here, but what if it’s something else?” she said.

The location made the discovery even more compelling.

The target sits only a short distance from the existing rounded feature and close to where the team previously recovered two ornate artifacts known as the starburst button and the spiral button.

Those buttons have already generated interest because of possible historical connections explored by the Oak Island team.

Now, the combination of a substantial buried iron object, old glass and earthenware has raised the possibility that another section of the site could extend beyond the area already excavated.

The archaeology team must now carry out additional work before the large metal target can be removed.

Under provincial regulations, the discovery requires careful excavation to determine whether the material represents scattered debris or part of a larger archaeological structure.

For Gary, however, the latest find offered another reason to keep searching.

Lot 5 has repeatedly produced artifacts that suggest activity predating the traditional beginning of the Oak Island mystery.

And if the newly identified area proves connected to the rounded feature, it could provide fresh evidence about who was using the site and what they were doing there.

“This is really encouraging,” Fiona said as the team prepared to leave the target for further archaeological investigation.

With another unexplored section now attracting attention, Lot 5 may once again be positioning itself as one of the most intriguing areas on Oak Island.